Now that the holidays are over, when you look in the mirror your waistline may seem a bit larger than it was before the holidays started. Whether it was the silky-smooth egg nog, the deliciously-decadent chocolate cake, or mama’s home-made fruit cake, you may have only gained a few extra pounds from your holiday indulgences but the effect it will have on your health may be far-reaching.

Studies indicate that during the holiday season, most people may only gain about a pound during the season between November and January. This study may come as a surprise to a number of people since most people believe that they gain between five and ten pounds over the holidays. In a study, researchers found that volunteers overestimated their holiday weight gain by about 5 pounds. However, in reality, only a small percentage of people actually gained more than 5 pounds over the holidays.

This is good news for most people. However, the bad news is that any extra weight that is gained over the holidays is not lost during the rest of the year. Researchers say that although the weight that most people gain during the holidays is small, it will usually accumulate from year to year and can lead to serious health problems including obesity later in life.

This study underscores the importance of developing a plan to deal with the extra weight that you may gain during the holiday. Deciding today to lose holiday pounds by eating healthy and exercising is the first step to getting in shape after the holidays.

The first thing you may want to do is to take small but consistent steps to gain control over your weight and take charge of your health. For example, if you were not very active during the holidays, then don’t train like an Olympic athlete now. If you try to do too much too fast you may be setting yourself up for failure. The best approach is to begin every step that you take slowly and increase your efforts from there.

One great strategy that will help you lose weight and improve your health is to add more fruits and vegetables to your diet. Not only are fruits and vegetables low in calories but they also supply your body with much needed vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants.

Another strategy you can employ is to cut about 800 calories a week from your diet by either eating less or exercising more. The best solution, of course, is to eat less and exercise. When combined with exercise, eating smaller, healthier portions of food is a sure-fire method of losing weight and getting in shape.

Just 20 to 30 minutes of exercise performed 3 to 4 days per week is sufficient to achieve noticeable improvements in your health. Moreover, if you don’t have a lot of time, those 30 minutes of exercise do not have to be performed all at once. If you’re short on time, try breaking up your fitness routine into small segments of 10 to 15 minutes each throughout the day. Then, when you have more time, you can schedule in more physical fitness into your routine.

If you gained a few extra pounds over the holiday, the result of not taking action can have serious implications on your health. Deciding today to take a proactive approach to your health and your weight is the most important first step you can make to optimum health and a healthier new you.

Years ago, I used to smoke cigarettes. I know, I know, how could this be possible, I've been a fitness instructor and personal trainer for 26 years! Well, I did, and it was very popular for the kids I ran with during that time. We had no idea it was dangerous. Heck, all the movie stars did it, and they looked so glamorous. The crowd I hung out with, well, we wanted to be just like them, from our copied hair styles, fashionable clothing, far out, groovy language, and in our personal habits too, like smoking.

My friends and I created rituals around smoking. We would sneak away (which was delicious in itself), and hide out while enjoying the grown up, act of smoking. The fact that getting talk would put us in serious trouble with our parents and school officials made it even more appealing. It was here we could secretly "get back" at the grown ups for imposing their rules on us.

My best friend, Barbra (not Barbara!) And I would share a cigarette, and talk about boys. We competed with each other a lot, and tried our hardest to out-do each other blowing the perfect smoke rings … inside smoke rings. She used to make me so mad because she took so long to inhale and exhale. She always had to be so dramatic and pretended she was someone famous, and for some reason that ticked me off. So we would limit the number of puffs each one taken and still we always cooked over it. I guess that was part of our ritual too.

Later, after learning it was dangerous, I tried to stop smoking and I could not. Each attempt I made replied in failure, and I realized I was addicted! I tried everything from writing about it, getting therapy for it, going cold turkey, and chewing gum, but to no avail. During those years, I would get so depressed because I could not master the act of quitting. It was not so much about saving myself from the perils of smoking that depressed me, it was not able to do what I wanted to do. If you've ever tried stopping a habit you know exactly what I mean. With each attempt, I'm pray, and say to myself, ok, Patricia, this time it's going to work, and you're really going to quit.

Then, a day or two later, I would be paving away again trying to justify to myself why it was OK to keep smoking. I'd say stuff like, as soon as this current crisis is over, I'll quit, or worse yet, I would convince myself I was probably like that 100 years old person who smoked their entitlement life, and did not get cancer . I remember those times very well, and how I vacillated between justifying my smoking and beating myself up for being such a failure.

What I realized is that yes, I was definitely terrified of getting cancer and dying, but honestly, what was most defeating and frustrating, was not being able to control myself. That was the key, and the source of my feelings of failure. I have always been (and even more so as I get older) driven to master, conquer and excel at things – not to meet someone else's standards, but to meet my own. I could not, for the life of me, conquer this nasty habit, and that made me feel bad about myself … horribly bad about myself. If I could not master this, how could I master the other really big and important things in my life? Because of this kind of thinking, I played small in many areas of my life during those days.

Then I entered a personal growth period in my life and started reading self-help books, like, Healing the Child Within, by Charles L. Whitfield, MD, Changes That Heal, by Dr. Henry Cloud, Learning To Love Yourself, by Gay Hendricks. I learned about the importance of having a good relationship with myself, and this became my new goal. I developed compassion and forgiveness for myself, for the areas in my life where I felt like a failure – like smoking. I found myself feeling more protective about my body, and I began taking vitamins, exercising and watching my diet. I went to a Naturopath, and learned even more about caring for myself. I learned about affirmations and the power of our minds in creating our reality – that what we tell our self creates a pathway for how we experience our lives, and it determines our success and failure.

As I transformed my thinking on this new inner journey, I gained clarity around my smoking, and I made a decision to quit that was based on my deep care, appreciation and love for myself. I was successful this time, with no turning back! I was finally able to gain freedom and independence on the day I quit. More importantly, I freed myself from my self-imposed bondage of limited thinking. I realized that I (we) can be masters of our habits; we can free ourselves from limiting behaviors and thinking and create our own independence day! Are you ready to begin your inner journey?

Answer the following questions:

1. What self-limiting lies have you been telling yourself?

2. How would a positive, healthy relationship with your self would look?

The American Revolution was one of the key turning points of human history; it led not only to the founding of a new nation (and one that was to have an immense effect on the subsequent course of history), but it brought to the fore ideas that were to inspire numerous political movements, anti-colonial campaigns, and any number of revolutions, all over the world.

When one looks at history, it is hard to pinpoint a single event or date that truly marks the birth of the United States of America. However, July 4th 1776, the date on which Thomas Jefferson’s draft Declaration of Independence was reworked and then approved by the Continental Congress, has, somewhat arbitrarily, come to be regarded as the seminal event of the American Revolution.

Today July 4th, is celebrated annually in the United States as Independence Day (also commonly known as “the Fourth of July”). The date is marked by a federal holiday, as well as various events such as barbecues, picnics, baseball games, fireworks, and parades.

One activity that you may not have considered for July 4th is to play a patriotic themed version of bingo. Bingo is an ideal game to play in community, church and school groups, because the game is very easy to play, and suitable for people of all ages to play together.

Of course, if you’re playing bingo on July 4th, it’s a lot more appropriate if you play a patriotic themed game – that is to say using bingo cards containing various words or phrases related to the American Revolution (e.g. “1776”, “Founding Fathers”, “George Washington”, “Minutemen”, “Yorktown”, etc.) rather than traditional numbered bingo cards. This also has the advantage that it provides a wonderful opportunity for younger players and school students to learn about these things. How do you get suitably themed bingo cards? Easy… print them from your computer! You can download free July 4th bingo card printables from the Internet, or you can get purchase affordable bingo card maker software that will allow you to print bingo cards containing whatever types of items you might in unlimited quantities.

South Africa is one of the most sophisticated and promising emerging markets in the world. It is also one of the most advanced and productive economies in Africa.

The country’s remarkable ability to put centuries of racial discrimination behind it in favour of reconciliation was widely considered a social “miracle” and inspired similar peace efforts.

Post-apartheid South Africa has a government comprising all races, and is often referred to as the “rainbow nation”, a phrase coined by South Africa’s Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu.

South Africa seeks to attract real and growing international investor commitment and, at the same time, fully capitalise on the opportunities to bring about dynamic growth in the country. In so doing it aims to enhance commercial and industrial development, while creating sustainable employment and providing training for the vast labour resource pool.

Since the inception of the new democratic government in 1994, South Africa has effectively adhered to disciplined, predictable economic fundamentals, and developed a strong entrepreneurial culture, keen to jointly develop the country with international partners.

From a geographic perspective, South Africa is proud of the role it plays in facilitating and supporting the development of Africa.

Through measures to liberalise trade and industrial development policies, South Africa has become established as a dynamic and internationally competitive investment location. Such measures include tariff reform, trade and investment promotion, an industrial strategy that focuses on supply and reform of the regulatory environment.

Considered alongside political stability, these measures have been instrumental in creating an economic scenario, ensuring that local and international firms are able to operate profitably in South Africa.

US Commerce Secretary Mr Gary Locke has come to India for a four-day visit. Mr. Locke is the first Cabinet Secretary to travel to India after President Obama's visit. He is accompanied by a delegation of 24 US businesses seeking to promote their technologies and services related to civil nuclear energy, civil aviation, defense and homeland security, and information and communications technology to India.

Mr Locke has met with some of the CEOs of our country who were part of the Us-India CEO Forum. In this regard, he also met Reliance Industries Chairman Mr. Mukesh Ambani on Thursday.

In this regard, Mr Locke stated that India could become as international financial power in 21st century if it takes further steps in economic reforms and opens up more sectors to foreign players. If India continues its walk down the path of reform, it it permits for investments of foreign companies … it could lead the global economy in the 21st century.

He also raised the issues regarding the reciprocity of trade between the two countries. He informed that to completely remove cross-border barriers. Due to such hindrances, India is slowly stepping back in doing business. He pointed the high duties like 19% levies on civil aviation aircraft and 50% on apples. Also, he also raised key issues like limits on foreign direct investment in important sectors and insufficient protection of intellectual property.

Mr Locke emphasizes that these steps clearly mention why India is still ranked only 134 out of 183 countries on the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Report.

We can trace back the birth of film-festivals to 1920s, the era of flappers and commercialisation of Hollywood. Seeing the rise in popularity of Hollywood, there was formation of film societies in France with the focus on non-commercial films by independent and underdog productions.

Film-festivals started with the aim to promote the vision and popularize the stories of the indie filmmaker, and they continue their mission today as well, with increased furore and admiration.

However, this may not be the case everywhere. When we compare the International film festivals to the Indian film-festivals, a stark reality comes to light. On an average, the best film-festivals in India see attendance that is limited to a few thousands, while most international film-festivals have a footfall of roughly 5,00,000 people. The difference is also shown in the amount of submissions and screenings of films in the Indian and global stage.

Given below are the top 5 International and Indian Film festivals:

INTERNATIONAL-

Cannes film fest:

The Festival De Cannes needs no introduction. Officially founded in 1946, the Cannes film fest is now recognised as the epitome of prestige for filmmakers all over the world.

Sundance film fest:

Started in 1985, and it is now the largest independent film fest in the United States of America. In the year 2017, it saw more than 13000 submissions by filmmakers all over the world.

Berlin film fest:

Popularly known as Berlinale, the Berlin film fest was first found in 1951. In its 68th edition, held in 2017, the festival saw around 2000 participants in various categories. It was attended by close to 500,000 cinephiles from across the globe.

Toronto International film fest:

Acronymed TIFF, this festival was found in 1976 as Toronto Festival of Festivals to showcase the best films from around the world. The 2016 Tiff had 6933 submissions and was attended by 480,000 people.

Venice film fest:

Holding the title of the Oldest Film-Festival, it was started as a part of the Venice Biennale in 1895! It saw its 74th edition in 2017 and had more than 500,000 footfalls in the 10 day event.

NATIONAL-

MAMI:

The Mumbai Academy of Moving Images (MAMI) is back with the 19th Mumbai Film-Festival which will take place from 12th to 18th October, 2017. Founded in 1997, MAMI is now one of the biggest film-festivals in India. In its 17th edition, MAMI was shown in over 200 screens across 58 countries and was attended by 7000 delegates.

International Film-Festival of Kerala:

This festival was started in 1996 and has since become an extremely prestigious platform. This festival also has a special focus on regional cinema. The competitive portion of the festival screens only 14 selected films.

Kolkata International film-fest:

It was founded in 1995 and took inspiration from geniuses like Satyajit Ray, RitwikGhatak, and Mrinal Sen. This year the festival has 553 entries which are cumulative of Short Films and Feature Films categories.

International film-fest of India, Goa:

Considered to be one of the oldest Indian film-festivals,(IFFI) was founded in 1952. In 2016, IFFI had more than a 1000 entries from 100 different countries all around the world.

Dharamshala International film-fest:

A relatively young festival, the DIFF was started in 2012 and saw more than 5000 people in attendance who saw 22 films that were screened. In 2016, this festival screened over 40 films.

The vast of amount of difference in the numbers seems worrisome. Sure, one can argue that it is not fair to compare India to a global stage. However, India is the home of Bollywood, the largest producer of films all over the world. Indians have been watching and patronising films for more than a century! But the reality is that independent cinema in India has to fight to be recognised.

To give the much needed push to indie films in India, we are seeing a rise in the number of film-festivals. Recently, MAMI also tied up with broadcaster Tata Sky to bring film fests to the comfort of your home, read all about it here. All we can hope is that with continuous efforts and awareness, indie films will get the kind of platform and audience that they deserve.

Let me get this started by throwing a number at you. 64% of Americans are overweight. It used to frowned upon and looked down at to be overweight. Now it is totally normal.

I don’t have to tell you why our country is overweight. With all the advancements in technology, everything has been made so easy that no one has to move to get anything. Kids don’t walk home from school anymore, food is brought to your home. You can pull through a drive through and woof down your daily allowances in fat and calories in a matter of minutes! I love America!

So what can we do to cut down on these numbers and bring some fitness back to the United States? Well, this is going to sound dumb but there is only one thing we can do. We have to start trying. We have to stop sitting on the couch every day and eating potato chips. Sounds so simple, right? What is stopping you?

There is only one thing stopping you. You are lazy and though you wish you could lose the weight, you are not willing to put in any kind of effort to obtain your results. It’s alright, we’ve all been there. Maybe you just went through a tough break-up or are just coming off of being pregnant. I’m not saying you don’t have your reasons, and they may be very legitimate reasons.

I had my reasons, I’ve been there just like you. I had pretty much given up when a friend approached me with a suggestion to help me lose weight. I replied with, “that’s OK man I am just going to be fat and watch tv all the time. It won’t work anyway.”

Well he finally got to me and that was nine months ago, and now I am 70 pounds lighter and doing things I never thought I could. All it took was some effort, less TV, the ability to follow some directions.

I want you to get out of this funk you are in, and get on the right track. I want to go to the store and not see more fat people than skinny. We can do this.

Quotes on happiness can be incredibly motivational. If you are looking for a quick lift, then the various words of happiness said by many famous people are capable of brightening your mood.

Inspirational quotes can refer to a number of topics not just happiness. There are thousands of popular quotes relating to a number of different aspects in life, including success, wealth and of course love. If people are looking for encouraging words of wisdom then quotes can be a great way in which they can feel comforted and uplifted. This is perfect for people when they are in a moment of doubt and unhappiness.

Quotes on happiness have the power to motivate someone. For example, the quote by Frederick Keonig “We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.” Many people think that we need something to be happy, this quote makes us stop and think about what we actually do have and how it does in fact make us happy, therefore we should appreciate it.

Quotes give people the inspiration and motivation to overcome an obstacle in life. Next time you’re feeling low and need words to encourage you then take a look online, there are thousands of quotes on happiness, many of which will appeal to you. When we are feeling low, or when a family member feels disheartened, many of us will quote a proverb or famous saying. These quotes on happiness by famous people have the ability to lift us, make us smile and even make us laugh. They can be incredibly touching and have an overall affect on our mood. If you don’t believe me then take a look online at the various inspirational happiness quotes and you will be surprised on the effect they have.

You may end up thinking that some of the quotes are truly ridiculous, but it is important to remember that we are all different. What motivates some people may not motivate others, what we like, someone else may dislike. Therefore if it doesn’t bring a smile to your face then it may be bringing a smile to someone else’s.

So as you can see quotes on happiness really have a strong power over us. I would like to quote the words of mark Twain and say “The best way to cheer yourself up is to cheer somebody else up” therefore I hope that this article has brought a smile to your face.

What you are going to find when you search for the history of email is that no one seems to agree on when it began or when the first message was sent. There are some common stories that tell the same tale, but other sources seem to believe otherwise. Whatever the case, email started out small, and was not thought to be what it would become in our modern times. It was a convenient way for a few to get in touch easily though their computers when the Internet as we know it was pretty much nothing more than a concept, if that.

Compatible Time Sharing System (or CTSS) was first used at MIT in the year 1961, according to some online sources. Others claim that email did not come into being until 1965, and some put the date in the 1970s. Whatever the case, early email was a simple message sent with a variety of commands to send such a message to someone on another computer. Some say the first person to do this was Ray Tomlinson and his first message was not sent until 1972.

Mr. Tomlinson was the person that decided that the @ symbol was what could tell a computer that the message within the email was mail, and where it should be sent. You can think of the information after the @ as the way to tell to which computer system the message should be sent, and the letters or numbers before that symbol specify a person or a specific computer terminal.

You may not have dealt with spam email until the Internet was becoming more widespread, (some time in the 1990s), but it has actually been around since the 1970s. The first spam-like emails sent were not about Viagra, but they were unsolicited none the less. The messages were more benign, but unwelcome all the same. Today, this is one of the biggest problems we have with electronic mail.

Today, email is used everywhere and by almost everyone with access to a computer. Spam emails are everywhere, and so are emails meant to scam you or even to scare you. Though in the early days there was no reason to hide the origin of any message, many try to do that today. If you have a problem figuring out who sent something, use a free email lookup to see what you can find out about the sender.

For someone that studies history, it is most commonly divided into larger periods which are then broken down into smaller. Modern History trivia encompasses a large are of history that runs from the end of the middle ages up until the current day. That period of time is extremely long however, and is usually broken down into a modern and late section.

Just as ancient history in the west is marked largely by the events of the greek and roman empires, a modern history quiz will be marked by the events of the British Empire, although major events in other European countries are also important. The period begins around the 1500s, and there are many events of this time which could have been used to mark the beginning of this period.

A modern history quiz may mark the start of the modern era with the defeat of Richard III, the fall of Constantinople, or the discovery of the Americas. The Reformation was also a key event of this early period. These points out the significance that religion played in the history and the politics of the day.

This large period of human history was to become determined even more by science and technological developments than earlier periods. Many have posted that technology plays a more important in the history of these times than even politics, religion, or military activity, as almost all of those are being driven by science during this period.

The printing press is one of these elements that according to modern history trivia might be responsible for changing the world. That is because of the role it played in establishing literacy. This in turn lead to a more educated population which changed the entire way the world worked and did business.

If you go further into the late modern period, the industrial revolution again shows how science was seriously responsible for shaping the modern world. The invention of the steam engine and steam powered devices helped to move this period more than any other invention.

Politically, many could argue that the most relevant development of the modern era was the development of the United States as a World Power. This was a very long process that began with the discovery of the continent at the beginning of this period, and runs up until after WW II when the US Emerged as the most important superpower in the world at the time.